The Shadow of the Slayer
by Veronica Chadwick
Summary: Crossover of BtVS and L.J. Smith's The Forbidden Game. Knowledge of Fg is not neded to read the story, however, you will learn what you need to know about Julian as the story progresses along with Buffy. Takes place between seasons 6 and 7 of BtVS Buffy
1. Just Another Walk In The Graveyard

_The whole story is completely finished I just gotta add the chapters :) Thank you to Barnabas for profreading for me. I am such a horrible typer. And also thanks to Red and the Judges at Bloody Quills for awarding this fic 3rd place Best Comedy. It means alot:)

* * *

**Sunnydale, California**_

**July 19, 2002**

Buffy Summers stood completely still and listened over the sound of the wind howling through the tombstones. There was definitely something out there with her. "Spike," she asked, half wanting a reply. "Is that you?" Buffy hadn't seen Spike since he had attempted to rape her in the spring. Was he back, from wherever it was he went to, for another chance to get her alone?

There was another rustling noise somewhere behind her. Buffy spun around trying to figure out what exactly was scurrying around that cemetery. "Probably just a little bunny rabbit." Buffy held her stake tightly as she crept towards a nearby bush. The whole hedge shuddered as something moved inside it. Half expecting a vampire to spring out at her, Buffy spread half of the bush aside with one hand, stake raised high in the other. There was nothing there.

"Okay, maybe we have invisible bunnies. Bunnies who become both depressed and invisible because the other bunnies don't notice them. I bet Anya would love that theory."

Buffy got up, and walked on. She still had to grab some food for Dawn and herself. Ever since Willow was taken to England to be rehabilitated because of magic abuse, 1630 Revello had been a little bit lonelier than usual. It felt strange not having Willow at Tara's funeral. The whole absence of Willow fueled even more despair in Sunnydale. The only person not greatly affected by it was Anya. Then again the recently re-established demon never was really affected by anything not concerning herself.

Xander had been doing very well work-wise; having Willow gone and his ex-fiancé as a demon again is still a heavy load on him though. It seems as though most of his wittiness had just faded away, but not all of it.

Buffy stopped in front of her mother's grave. Things would be so much easier if she hadn't died when she did. Buffy heard the noise again. There was something following her. She thought she might have seen a shadow among some of the other tombstones, but she knew her mind could be playing games with her now. It was late, she was hungry, the cemetery was vampire-less, and now something was probably following her; maybe it was leprechauns. She figured it was probably nothing, but something was there. At least she knew she was imagining the leprechauns.

"Leprechauns; now there's a laugh. Giles did say they didn't exist, so I guess I'm safe from any lucky medallions being thrown my way." Buffy took one good look around, still seeing nothing, and turned to leave while frowning. "I didn't want any Irish gold anyway."


	2. No TV For Buffy

Dawn was sitting on the couch watching a movie when Buffy walked through the door. "Hungry?" Buffy asked.

"I ordered a pizza. I figured that you ran into some vamps or something, you were gone for over two hours."

"Oh." Buffy looked at the paper bag she was holding. "I bought burgers. Guess I'm eating two."

Dawn looked sympathetic. "Sorry. I really thought you had gotten into some heavy Slayer action. Did you?"

"No." Buffy said. She walked into the kitchen and put the bag of burgers on the counter. "I thought I was being followed by invisible bunnies though."

"Invisible bunnies?" Dawn asked. "They aren't like the bunny off of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' are they, because that would be really bad?"

Buffy smiled as she went back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to her sister. "No. I don't think they were invisible bunnies at all. That was just my overactive imagination at work. But, there was definitely something scurrying about out there."

"Vampires?" Dawn asked.

"I doubt it. Ever notice how during the summer months the forces of darkness don't really pose any big threat. It is like as soon as Fall Sweeps start on television they appear in hordes to destroy the world and devour babies everywhere." Buffy joked.

Dawn laughed. "Either they hate the new shows or they just don't want you to become a couch potato."

Buffy smirked. "Check. No couch potato Buffy. Although I would like to follow at least one show for once."

Dawn joked back. "Well, it isn't easy when your primetime hours are spent in the cemeteries patrolling." "Yep. Darn those evil, evil vampires." Buffy said. "Whatcha watching?"

Dawn looked at Buffy. "'Labyrinth'."

"Oh. I remember this movie."

"Yeah. My favorite scene is the ballroom scene when they dance together." Dawn said.

Buffy chuckled. "Yeah, because kidnaping is Cosmo's new top turn on."


	3. A Shape In The Dark

Buffy woke up at 3:15 in the morning. Rolling over she noticed something odd about the wall beside her closet. There was a black shadow about six feet tall that looked like it belonged to a human. Her body froze. Why did she let her imagination run wild like this? Staring at the shadow only made the shadow look more three dimensional, and where the head would be appeared to be facing her. She thought she saw a glimmer of bleached white-blonde hair in the moonlight. Spike. Her mind was reeling. She could see him on top of her riping at her robe like it was yesterday. She had let him touch her, let him in, and he couldn't stop himself from taking what he wanted beacuse he was a demon. Vampires are demons, even if it is only partly, it is the demon that controls the body. She would never let Spike get that close to her again.

Buffy's body came back to life suddenly, and when she had made it to her feet the shadow was gone. She was trembling. When Buffy crawled back in her bed, she looked back at the spot she had seen the shadow before. It was back.

The shadow was in the exact spot that it was at before. The shadowy face facing hers, watching. The silence was deafening. All she could do was stare back.


	4. Research

Buffy didn't go back to sleep that night, instead she stared at the shadow trying to catch what ever it was that was making it appear there. She didn't have any luck. When the sunlight began to pour through the window it faded out completely.

Buffy stumbled down the stairs to find Dawn at the computer. "What are you doing?" Buffy asked her. She sat down across the table from Dawn, and laid her head on the table. She hadn't gotten any sleep, and she was feeling it big time.

"Oh. I'm researching demons that are hard to see, and that stalk - but doesn't attack."

Buffy raised her head just enough to where she could give her sister a look. "You're what?"

"I was bored okay. You won't let me patrol, so research is all I have. You can't take that away from me."

Buffy smiled. "Wanna bet?"

Dawn huffed. "All right, I get it. The search was just as pointless as it sounded anyway."

Buffy pulled her gray robe around her tightly. "Good. Try looking up six foot tall shadows that watch you while you sleep, but disappear once you try to investigate them."

Dawn looked confused. "You were being watched by a shadowy peeping- tom? They have everything in Sunnydale, don't they?"

Buffy got up and went to the kitchen. "Are we out of Frosted Flakes?"

Dawn, busily typing, yelled to her "They're on top of the refrigerator."

Dawn listened to the sound of cereal being poured into a bowl. Buffy came back into the room with a bowl full of Frosted Flakes.

Dawn found something.

"Um, Buffy?"

"Yeah?" Buffy said through a mouth full of cereal.

"Could you see the shadow when the sun started coming up?"

"No. It's a shadow. Light kills shadows." "

Well, did you, I don't know, try to gain knowledge of the world and lock a bunch of creatures in a closet, that got loose, and now want to kill you?" Dawn asked.

"No. A world chock full of no. What are you getting at?"

Dawn hesitated, and explained, "Shadow Men. Not to be confused with the ancient Sumerian Shadow Men who created the first Slayer. They come from the mythological world of Niflheim. They are said to be an all male race, extremely handsome, and, um, they kidnap people and take them into their world: The Shadow World. They can be summoned for knowledge or power but in turn they must be given something in return, and what they want is usually something the person can't afford ­ such as, let's say ­ their life."

Buffy blinked. "And don't you think I would have told you if I had summoned up some Shadow Whosits for knowledge of some sort?"

"Sometimes the debt can be fulfilled by being given someone else in their place." Dawn said, "So maybe someone else did, and they didn't want to die, so they thought of the first person to come to mind, you, and now they are waiting for the best time to snag you."

Buffy had finished her cereal. "You think somebody offered me to the boogey men? Why would they think of me? Who would be dumb enough to summon these things anyway? Hey, you didn't make any wishes when watching your movie last night did you. Remember the wish you made to keep people from leaving you which got everyone trapped in our house?"

"No. I thought the movie was romantic... But I so do not use the "W" word anymore, especially since Anya is, you know, granting wishes of late. As for who would be stupid enough, I don't know. Maybe… Andrew, or Jonathan." Dawn suggested.

"They are long gone by now. Besides, I was probably imagining it all anyway. This all sounds too out there to be what is going on."

Dawn's eyes got wide. "You know that it will be now because you just said that, right?"

Buffy frowned and pouted. "Yes... Why do I even open my mouth sometimes?"

Dawn quipped, "Because you desperately enjoy the sound of your voice telling other what to do and how things are."

Buffy shot a glance at her, "Remember the talk about the non- research having?"

Dawn zipped back to the computer screen. "I'll research to myself."

Buffy stood up to go get dressed; She was still wearing her yummy sushi pajamas, that still fit and she still loved. "Please do."


	5. Anya Explains It All

Buffy didn't go back to sleep that night, instead she stared at the shadow trying to catch what ever it was that was making it appear there. She didn't have any luck. When the sunlight began to pour through the window it faded out completely.

Buffy stumbled down the stairs to find Dawn at the computer. "What are you doing?" Buffy asked her. She sat down across the table from Dawn, and laid her head on the table. She hadn't gotten any sleep, and she was feeling it big time.

Anya opened the door to her apartment to find Buffy standing there. "What do you want?"

Buffy smiled, "Nice to see you too, Anya."

Anya rolled her eyes. "Come in, I guess. I was about to transport to Peru, but it can wait I suppose."

"You might want to not mention your vengeance work around me, Anya, it's kind of not a good thing to do."

Buffy walked into Anya's apartment and took a seat on the sofa.

Anya closed the door. "I know, you might have to kill me if I go too far, but don't worry. Nobody's been killed due to my work. I can't seem to get my mojo up and running like I used to."

Buffy smiled politely, "I'm sorry ­ I mean - that's good."

Anya looked stunned, "Well, gee. Thanks for your support. D'Hoffryn's all over my case these days…"

"Anya," Buffy began, "I know how vengeance is your thing and all, but I didn't come here to talk about your demon ways."

"Oh." Anya said taking a seat in a chair across from Buffy. "Why did you come to inconvenience me then?"

"Well, there was this shadowy thing in my room last night. Dawn thinks that, this is going to sound weird, but she thinks Shadow Men are trying to get me."

"You had a Shadow Man in your bedroom?"

"I ­ I don't know, there was a shadow…"

"That is not a good thing. Shadow Men are bound by the rune of restraint. They aren't supposed to be able to leave their world at all. Oh my God, this is a real crisis!"

"So Shadow Men are real." Buffy asked.

"Of course they're real. You live in Sunnydale for Pete's sake, and you are questioning this? They aren't always called 'Shadow Men' though. They are demons that live in the dimension of Niflheim. In Norse mythology, it is also known as one of the nine worlds. It is a Hell dimension covered in frigid ice and shadows. They found a bridge out once and because of their beauty, people mistook them as Dark Elves. After one of them surfaced in the Black Forest in Germany and became know as the Erkling, people began to panic as women and children vanished with out a trace. All kinds of stories were written about them. They were known as genies, boojums, incubi, hobgoblins, and even aliens. Shakespeare made a character named Puck based on the Shadow Men for 'A Mid Summer Night's Dream.' Odin, the high God of the Norse worlds left the dimension of Asgard to seek the help of powerful witches, and used runes, the magical alphabet used by the Shadow Men themselves, to lock them into their own world. If one of them was in your room last night, then someone has opened a portal into Niflheim. You can't protect yourself from them, they are immortal in the fact that they were not born into this world, but written, and therefore can not be killed."

Buffy's eyes were wide. "I don't know if there actually was a Shadow Man in my room, but seeing how these things seem to always happen to me, I'd say it was possible. How could someone open a portal like that?"

"There are ways to get in such as a Rune Wheel, or if you stumble upon a weak spot in the fabric between this dimension and theirs. But with those it is a one way entry, nothing can exit those except for the one who created and empowered the Rune Wheel, but it is unlikely they will come out ever agian. They would have to be a powerful Witch or Warlock to open a portal strong enough to allow a Shadow man to escape. Even Vengeance Demons are forbidden from opening a portal to Niflheim, those demons are that bad."

Buffy stared at Anya, who looked like she was going to panic. "Yikes. But who is powerful enough to… Do you think it got out when Glory used Dawn to break the barriers between all dimensions?"

Anya pondered it. "I doubt it. Dawn was The Key to open the barriers, but once the blood stopped flowing -- your blood locked them all back. The Key's energy only let all hell dimensions bleed into this one temporarily, anything let into ours was automatically sucked back into it's own dimension when you jumped through the energy barrier Dawn had created. Something else had to have let this Shadow Man free."

Buffy stiffened. "You don't think Willow could have done it... on accident or anything, do you?"

Anya shrugged. "Well, she did go all evil and tried to destroy the world. And remember when she tried to bring Oz back so she did that spell that caused you and Spike to be engaged, Xander to be attacked by all those demons, and Giles to be blind. I wouldn't put it past her, but the question is, why would they be after you and not Willow if she did it?"

Buffy stood up. "What if they are after Willow? I've got to call Giles."

Anya, twirling her shoulder length brown hair (she dyed it back), appeared to be calm again, but she still looked worried. "I'll teleport to Arashmahar. I'll ask around, maybe D'Hoffryn knows something. He is not going to be pleased. Shadow Men are bad news. They are like itty bitty Loki's that run amuck over everything, and sucking souls out of everything they find. They don't leave any fun for the rest of the demon population at all."

"All right." Buffy said. "Soul sucking?"


	6. Shadow Men

Giles finished cleaning his glasses and put them back on. "Are you certain that it was a Shadow Man?" Giles spoke calmly into the phone.

Buffy's voice sounded a little distressed. "Anya and Dawn think so, I don't think I believe it, but you know Sunnydale; Welcome to the Hellmouth, we got our very own vampires, demons, and Shadow Men. Why do they call them Shadow Men anyway, it just sounds broad; they could live in shadows, they could be shadows ­ ooh, like on 'Peter Pan'!"

Giles didn't smile; he just looked out the window. "I'll go check on Willow, see if she knows anything. Maybe the coven can sense something. Afterwards I'll consult my books and call you once I know anything."

"I knew you'd say that."

"You knew I'd say what?" Giles asked.

"You always consult your books; I miss it."

Giles had to grin, "I miss you too, Buffy."

After getting off the phone with Buffy, he left to visit the coven.

* * *

Xander was walking up the lawn towards the Summers's house when he heard the scream. He ran into the house to discover that Anya had teleported in right behind Dawn. Dawn had one hand over her heart and was gasping "Don't… ever… do that… again."

Anya snickered and remarked "Sorry about that, can't control who is in the room with me when I teleport now, can I.?" That was when Anya noticed Xander. "Oh look, it's Mr. Xander-I-saved-the world-friggin' Harris."

Xander smiled painfully; for someone he loved so much, he couldn't understand why she hated him so much. But then there was that whole incident where he jilted her at the alter. "Nice to see you too, Anya ­ or should I say 'Anyanka' ­ converting back to your demon ways?"

"Oh, save it Harris. What are you doing here anyway?"

Dawn intervened. "Whoa, save it until later, okay. I asked Xander to come stay with me while Buffy was out looking for information." Dawn looked at Xander. "Anya was gathering any information she could."

Anya glared at Xander smugly while speaking to Dawn, "Well, I guess that's okay then. You wouldn't want to be sucked into the Shadow World; that would be awful. You could push him in and run for it."

Xander had about enough. "Anya, I don't know why you are acting this way. I thought that your sleeping with Spike was enough of a payback, but apparently not. I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry. But sooner or later you are going to have to get over it and act like a human being ­ only you can't because..."

"Because I'm a Vengeance Demon, blah, blah, blah. Now you are going to go on about the whole Vengeance Demon thing…" Anya started.

"Because you're a demon!" Xander exclaimed.

"Stop it!" Dawn screamed. Xander and Anya stopped arguing and looked at her. Calmly, Dawn said "Buffy will be back in a little bit. Can we all just sit down and wait quietly. They sat on the couch, Dawn in the middle. Xander and Anya glared silently at each other.

* * *

Buffy walked in a few minutes later. "Didn't learn anything at the demon bars." She plopped down on the couch. "What about you guys? Anything? Anya?"

Anya nodded and smiled at knowing she had important information. "Yes, a Shadow Man has gotten into our dimension. Apparently, Willow did it."

"Willow? But how did Willow do it, she's in the middle of rehabilitation?" Xander asked.

Anya continued, "She didn't do it recently, she did it when she flayed Warren alive. Remember his body burst into flames and went poof. Only it didn't just poof because Willow sent it to Niflheim for eternal torment."

"But wouldn't Willow have told us if she opened a Hell dimension and something got out?" Buffy asked.

"I don't think she knew, Buffy. Xander and I were with you in the woods when you saw Willow kill Warren. We didn't see anyone appear where Warren vanished."

"True." Buffy said. "Why didn't we see him come into our dimension?"

"He's a Shadow Man. It was dark and shadowy in the woods that night. He probably just blended right into, well, the dark and the shadows."

Dawn was leaning against the wall in thought. "What is it doing here spying on Buffy? If he wants to kill her, why doesn't he?"

"Hey!" Buffy said in disbelief. "I'm the one that died not too long ago so you could stay alive little Miss Key-to-the-hell- dimensions."

"That's not what I meant. And I'm not The Key anymore, I might have been made from it, but I think the power it-I- yielded was only for that one time. I just don't understand why he is just watching you while you sleep. He's not watching me sleep too, is he?"

Anya shrugged. "I don't know why he's hanging around. I know that Shadow Men stalk their prey for fun, but he seems to be taking an eternity to do something. Maybe he can't open a portal back to snag you; D'Hoffryn said he didn't know what this Shadow Man was doing. Then he lectured me for trying to help you."

Buffy smiled gratefully. "Thank you Anya."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." Anya picked up a small gray book off of the end table. "I brought this so you could study it."

"Homework? Why do I always have to do the extra reading?" Buffy asked, taking the book from Anya.

"It is a book about The Elder Futhark ­ runes. If perchance you get dragged into The Shadow World, you can use them even if you possess no magic power what so ever. Runes are the only magical elements that can be called on in the Shadow World." Anya explained.

"Ooh, I wanna look at them." Dawn said taking the book from Buffy and flipping through the pages."

"Ok, now I really have to get to Peru, so I will see you when I get back." Anya said. And before anyone could said anything, Anya vanished.

"So runic studies it is. I'll order a pizza." Xander walked off to get the telephone.

* * *

Giles had just gotten back home when the phone started to ring. He knew it was Buffy before he answered. "What have you found out?" he asked.

"Willow did it."

"Oh, dear Lord."

Buffy explained to him what Anya had found out.

"Buffy be extra careful, and don't go into any dark places alone."

"I won't. And I'll make sure not to take candy from strangers either." Buffy joked.

"I'm serious Buffy; if you end up in the Shadow World, it will be very difficult to get you back out alive."

"Okay, I get it. Try talking to Willow about when she killed Warren, see if she can recall on how she sent him to the Shadow World."


	7. A Mysterious Game

It happened that night. Anya came back from her vengeance trip, bringing with her a thin, white box. It was kind of glossy. "I know how we can get rid of this Shadow Man guy."

Dawn looked at the box. "How exactly are we supposed to do that?"

"We play a game with him." Anya said cheerfully.

"Yeah, and then we can invite him over for tea, and just hand Buffy over to him." Xander said, unenthused.

"No, no. I'm serious. I met a guy down in Peru ­ he was a very sexy man at that ­ well, he was a demonologist and he knew about Shadow Men. It is a shame he only studies them literary wise."

"You were checking out the demonologist?" Buffy asked. "Well, he reminded me a little of Spike, with the hair color and the all black clothing. But his eyes were this intense color blue, like nothing I've ever seen before. His hair was a little longer in the front and back, and it almost fell into his eyes. He had a snake tattooed on his wrist, and I think he had a matching earring. I think I spent a good ten minutes just staring at him. There may have been drool." Anya said, off in thought. "If I didn't feel I had to come back to help you after I was done cursing this guy who dumped his girlfriend because he said she was too fat for him…"

"And about the game? Why do we have to play a game with the Shadow Man?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, Shadow Men love to play games. They love riddles and puzzles and any kind of gamble. The have power through the rune Perthro ­ the rune of gamesmanship ­ to be good at game playing."

"So they are good at games, but you want us to play against him anyway. Was the demonologist evil?" Dawn asked.

"Well, if I understand correctly, we play this game and only one of us has to make it to the finish for all of us to come back, so with Buffy's Slayer skills I figure we could do this. If we win the Shadow Man is forced to go back to Shadow World and never bother us again."

"Whoa! Come back from where?" Buffy asked.

"An in-between place. It will be in the Shadow World, but where the other Shadow Men can not interfere." Anya said.

"That's too dangerous." Xander said. "He could trick us and then we'd all be trapped there forever."

"If so, make another gamble. Shadow Men can't refuse a good gamble." Anya said. She took the box into the dinning room and opened it. "Xander you build things; I need you to construct this cardboard house thingy."

"You want me to build a dollhouse?" Xander said.

"This house will be the in-between place. Make sure it is sturdy. Dawn, do you want to put the furniture in when he finishes building?"

"Sure; even though I was never big on dollhouses." Dawn mumbled.

* * *

"All right, now all we have to do is shuffle the cards. Let me." Anya said taking the cards off of the table and shuffling them.

The paper house had been constructed. A three story, Victorian style house with a turret, open on one side, stood on the table in front of them. The interior design was exotic, with art and tapestries, screens, and rugs. The furniture was gothic style, and very pretty ­ yet sinister beyond belief. Anya finished shuffling the card deck and placed it on the table in front of the house. Buffy had the box lid and was reading the written instructions. She was uneasy about the shiny red rune, shaped like an upside down, jagged 'U' in the middle of the box lid. Anya identified it as 'Uruz" the rune that breaks the veil between dimensional worlds. They had drawn their likenesses on the paper dolls. Dawn's doll looked the most realistic; Xander's was the least realistic. They had drawn their nightmares on a slip of paper and placed them inside the various rooms face down. Nobody showed anybody else their nightmares, but Buffy was pretty sure everyone knew that Anya had drawn bunnies and was probably the only one who drew their actual worst nightmare.

Buffy put the lid down. Do we have the pieces for The Shadow Man, The Creeper, and The Lurker?"

Anya rummaged through the paper doll cut outs and produced a wolf and a serpent. Underneath the wolf the crimson red text read "The Creeper," and under the serpent, "The Lurker."

"There's no Shadow Man piece. I'm sure it doesn't matter. He doesn't want his appearance to be known yet. The dreamy demonologist guy said that Shadow Men like the element of surprise." Anya explained calmly, but looking a little unsure about something.

"All right, the oath thing." Anya took a deep breath. "I swear that the game is real and that I am putting my life in peril."

Buffy looked at Anya. "Yeah, me too." She looked at the box lid in front of her. "What she said."

Dawn started to make her oath when Buffy stopped her. "I really don't think you should do this."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I already told you, if I don't go with you now, I'll just wait until you go and do it anyway." Her arms were crossed and she glared at her sister.

Buffy sighed. "Fine, but if you get killed you're dead… well, apparently you would already know that."

Dawn swore that she understood that the game was hazardous to her life. Xander reluctantly did the same.

Anya reached out and drew a card. "You have all sworn that you know that the game is real."

Xander looked at Anya. "You shuffled the cards. I saw you shuffling; how did that card still make it on top?"

Anya sighed. "It is mystical. Whatever the cards want read will be read. The cards will read the same no matter how you shuffle them."

Dawn picked up the next card. "You are all alone in the house and you hear footsteps upstairs." The four listened to the heavy thumps moving above them.

"Cute." Buffy said drawing the next card. "You try to run, but there is no way out." She looked up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We're locked in. We can't leave until the game is won by us." Anya said.

Xander picked up his card. "The clock strikes nine."

Buffy laughed. "It's 7:30, how is the clock going to strike nine?"

Suddenly a clock began to chime.

One. Two. Three.

"Buffy, when did we get a clock that chimes?" Dawn asked.

Four. Five. Six.

Buffy held Dawn's hand.

Seven. Eight. Nine.

Everything went black.


	8. Julian

Buffy's eyes shot open. She was in the parlor of the dollhouse thing; just like Anya said. She shook Dawn's shoulder until she opened her eyes. "Buffy, did we make it?" Dawn said as she sat up. Anya and Xander were starting to stir.

"Oh look, hell doesn't just have apartments, but houses. And not just houses, but big, creepy houses that have parlors." Xander said.

"Don't be stupid. All the demons and Gods get the nice Hell houses, mortals just get eternal torment." Anya said standing up.

Dawn walked toward the torch on the wall. The flame is even real, how cool."

"Why couldn't Hell get electricity?" Xander asked eyeing the torches. "No, everything has to be dark and gloomy. This Shadow Guy better not try to make me eat bugs. I'm tired of all that crap."

Buffy stood up and stretched. "Alright, let's get this over with. Show yourself. What do you want?"

A voice came out of the darkest corner of the room. A voice so beautiful that it was both terrifying and dreamlike. "I'm glad you all finally decided to wake up. I hope your stay is…" The being behind the voice stepped into the light and everyone gasped. "Enjoyable."

The Shadow Man was about six feet tall, with white-blonde hair that looked like fresh snow, and eyes ­ those eyes ­ were unbelievably blue. Impossibly blue. He looked to be in his early twenties. He wore black pants that seemed to cling to his lean, but well muscled figure. He had on a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A smirk teased the side of his mouth. He was gorgeous, more gorgeous than Spike or Angel ever were.

Anya was the first person to speak. "Hey! It's you! You tricked me! Why did you have to trick all of us through me? That's not fair. Hey, what happened to your tattoo?"

The boy's smirk grew wider. "I didn't trick you; I just used you to my advantage. Don't worry, I didn't lie to you, if one of you reaches the finish line to this game you can all go. And the tattoo comes and goes when I want it to. I thought it had a nice effect."

Buffy spoke up next. "You kept the Shadow Man piece out of the box because you knew Anya would figure it out and we wouldn't play."

"I knew you'd be the smart one." His eyes flashed. "But really, the game will start in a few minutes. Relax while you can, or just give up now and save yourselves some trouble. It isn't easy facing your own nightmares."

"And what makes you so sure we want to play by your rules, Jacko? Why do you think we will cooperate?" Xander asked.

"Oh you will cooperate. You haven't the choice. And by the way, you can call me Julian."

"Julian? Why Julian?" Dawn asked.

"Why not?" Julian replied.

Anya spoke up. "It is a play on words, I told you Shadow Men like riddles, jokes, games, and all that stuff. Old names for the Shadow Men are the Aljunnu and Djinn. He's just making it sound more modern."

Julian winked at her. "Maybe. Or maybe I just like the name, and felt that today I wanted to be called Julian. Better than Joan, don't you think?"

The last line had been directed at Buffy. "How did you know about that, that was before you were brought here." Buffy asked. When Willow did a spell that ended up giving them all amnesia, Buffy named herself Joan..

Julian smiled and crossed his arms in front of his chest smuggly. "That would be telling."

Buffy shrugged in annoyance. "Well, Julian. Just what terms are we playing on here? I want to get this over with, and if we don't start rolling soon ­ well, let's just say I'm itching for a good slay."

Julian laughed. "Go on, threaten me some more. In fact, try to take me. Your power may be great in your world, but here you yield to mine. Welcome to my world."

"I yield to no one." Buffy said.

He snapped his fingers and Buffy was the only one left in the room. Julian leaned against the wall. "Now, you wanted to know the terms?"

"What did you do with my friends and my sister?" Buffy demanded.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't do anything ­ yet. You will be the key player in this game. You find your friends, make it through the game. Find the passage to the turret on the third story, and walk out."

"That's all. We can just walk out? What about that thing where you told Anya any of us could win and then all of us could go free?"

"Oh, that. That wasn't exactly what I meant. You see, when I said any of you could win, I meant any one of you that I picked to be the key player could win. And since it is all about you, you have to find them and take them with you. Oh and there's a time limit."

"A time limit?" Buffy was getting annoyed with all the new rules. "What do you mean this is all about me?" Buffy asked.

"Don't you know?" Julian said smugly. "You have until sunrise to get to the turret of the house. If you don't, you and your friends are trapped here." Julian smirked and walked closer to her. He stopped inches away from her face. He reached a hand out towards her face, not actually touching her. "Or, you can give up now, and I let your friends go."

Buffy slapped his hand away and took a swing at him. Julian grabbed her hand to stop the blow, and with it he flung her across the room. Buffy hit the wall hard. "That was very stupid. You can't take me. Sunrise is at 5:57 tomorrow morning. Don't waste time." Julian was gone.

"This is just great, a big spooky house, a creepy but very hot bad guy who can block all my Slayer moves, and a time limit. Why is it always about the Slayer anyway? This is worse than what the Watcher's Council makes me go through."

Buffy walked over to the window and pulled the drapes back. There was a frigid landscape covered in swirling winds and snow, everything was dark and dreary and covered in ice. "Well, I'm defiantly not in Kansas. Guess this rules out escape by Giles with a chainsaw. I hate weird nightmare houses." Buffy dropped the drapes back over the window. "And I thought Spike was bad and moody. Apparently Shadow Men are testy people ­ uh, demons, really hot demons."

Buffy glanced at her reflection in the full length mirror on the wall. Her blonde hair was tied back into a pony tail. Her soft, white turtle neck sweater looked awkward in the light the torches threw off of her. She had worn it because she thought it would be cold with the ice and shadows, but it was actually pretty warm. Her black leather pants on the other hand looked rightfully exotic in the parlor. Combined with her stylish black boots and you had the image of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy walked out into the hallway. In both directions, the hall seemed to be endless. "Ok, so this may take a while. Maybe I shouldn't have pissed that Julian guy off."


	9. A Riddle

Buffy folded her arms over her chest and sighed. She hated time limits. She chose to go to her right first. She passed a couple of doors, all of which were locked tight. Buffy couldn't even kick them down. She didn't like the thought of that; it reminded her of the test the Watcher's Council conducted on her eighteenth birthday by taking away all her Slayer strength. Then it occurred to her. She depended on her strength and skills and it would be horrifying if she couldn't use them. It wasn't her worst nightmare, but it was a fear of hers. Could Julian turn whatever fears she had in her subconscious against her? Could he read minds? She decided to ask him if she saw him again. The little creep… who is also really, really hot.

Buffy walked on some more, and eventually she came to a dead end. "Well that is just great. I wasted like five minutes running into a wall. Stupid dimensional house thingies."

While walking the in the other direction she heard a clock chiming. It chimed eleven times and Buffy froze. "Eleven! How long were we out?"

"For about an hour." The voice came from behind her.

Buffy turned around and faced Julian. Looking at him sent a slight shock through her.

Julian smiled at her look of uneasiness. "You look so beautiful when you sleep."

"You're wasting my time." Buffy said, arms crossed.

Julian ignored her, and continued. "But then again, you're always beautiful. There are other girls more beautiful, of course ­"

"Hey!" Buffy said, feeling offended.

"But you have a beauty all of your own. A beauty that can't be touched. A confidence that can get the best of you at times." Julian had circled completely around her until he was standing in the way of where Buffy was headed.

"So, are you complementing me or insulting me?" Buffy asked while feeling very confused.

"Don't you know?" Julian's voice was mesmerizing; it made Buffy want to just fall right into his arms, but it also made her want to flee in the other direction, or hit him for answering questions with questions.

"This is sweet, it really is. But I want to know, why am I the key player? Why am I the one getting the crazy-mixy-signal chats? Why do you want us to play this game? Why haven't you just killed us, or me ­ it is me you want right?"

Julian smirked. "Yes, it is you I want, but I don't want to kill you. What a waste. When I saw you, I knew I had to have you. I didn't want to kill you, I wanted to cherish you. So I decided I would give you a chance. You are strong willed and confident. When you lose you'll have to realize it was your failure and I won fairly. You know the rules already, and you took the oath."

"Oh please! When you win? Obviously you don't know me well enough, I always pull through. I may sacrifice things at times, but I don't lose easily. I have died twice, buddy, and I still won." Buffy scowled.

"Are your friends and your sister worth sacrificing? You've died for your sister once, I'm sure you wouldn't give her up now."

Buffy was in his face in an instant. "If you put one finger on my sister, I'll ­"

"You'll what? You'll stake me?" Julian teased. "How about this. I'll give you a riddle, and if you can give me the answer, your sister can go free." Julian's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Will she be able to come back in after me?"

"No. She won't be able to regain access into the game."

Buffy sighed. "Fine then, what's the riddle?"

Julian's smile was sinister. "Okay, listen closely." Suspenseful music could be silently heard in the background. And then he began:

_I am mindless, yet demanding. _

_I am fragile although I am solid. _

_I am more precious than your mind. _

_I see through you although I am blind. _

Buffy blinked. "That's it? That's the big riddle that causes the sinister glint in your eyes and the smirk and the spine-tingling music ­ why was there music?"

"I thought the music added a nice touch. So, can you give me the answer?" Julian asked; he looked amused.

"Um, let me get back to you on that." Buffy said.

Julian's temperament seemed to change before Buffy's very eyes. "Why would you mock something you can not answer? This game is serious; if you can't take it seriously it only proves my point from earlier."

"Which was what ­ how you are going to win? I am The Slayer. I kill demons, and oh yeah, you're a demon. I'm gonna win."

Julian's jaw clenched. "Apparently you don't understand what you are dealing with. Think about that riddle. Next time I might not be so lineate. Next time you infuriate me, one of your friends die."

Buffy went to kick him but he caught her foot and flipped her across the hall about fifteen feet. When Buffy got back up, Julian was gone.

"Damn it. I hate when guys just poof on me." She looked around her as she called out, "It's not very sporting."

Buffy continued down the hall mumbling "If he throws me one more time..."


	10. Back to the Basement

After a good bit of walking down the endless corridor full of non- opening-doors, Buffy ran into Xander who was meandering in about the same way she was. She was about to call out to him when he turned and saw her. "Buffy! Is it really you? This hallway goes on, and on, and on, and none of the doors will open. I don't remember this many doors when I was molding the little paper house together, did you?"

Buffy smiled as she stopped right in front of him. Then she threw her arms around him. "Oh, Xander, thank you for not being dead."

Xander just hugged her back. "Uh, yeah. Right. Good on me with the not-being-deadness."

Buffy stood back. "This is going to be a completely stupid and obvious question, but have you seen Dawn or Anya anywhere?"

"Like you clearly stated in your question, obviously ­ no."

"Has that creepy Julian guy shown up and told you funny riddles and discouraged you from winning at all?" Buffy asked.

"Creepy? With the way you girls ogled at him when he made his intro, I thought you wanted to jump his bones right then and there." Xander remarked.

"I sense a bit of jealousy and resentment in your tone. It's his eyes isn't it? All blue, and ­ well, blue is all I can really say to describe them without getting all poetic."

Xander faked a smile. "No actually it was the whole Spike-look that made me resentful because we all know what a gentleman he was. Other than that, and the fact that he is a demon, I may be a little jealous."

"Only a little?"

"Just a smidgen."

"Okay, just how much is a smidgen anyway?" Buffy asked with a grin. Her grin faded when a door formed right in front of her eyes. "Door."

Xander looked confused. "Door? What?" He turned and saw the door. "Either that door wasn't there before, or the both of us are very drunk."

"It just formed in front of my eyes. It was all mystical and spooky, and do you think he slipped us hallucinogenic drugs while we were unconscious?" Buffy asked, only half serious.

"Maybe. Should we open it? None of the other doors opened."

Buffy remembered something. "Ooh! Julian said that I was like the key player and I had to collect my friends to move on. Maybe the door appeared because I ran into you and now we can move to the next level."

Xander paused to take it all in. "The key player? I knew it!"

Now Buffy was the confused one. "What did you know?"

"Another well muscled evil demon has the hots for you."

Buffy laughed. "What? No he doesn't; it's something about killing the Slayer or sending her into another dimension. It has nothing to do with having the hots for anyone. The Spike resemblance really has you worried doesn't it?"

"Buffy," Xander began, "You're my friend, I worry about you when all the more attractive demons want you as their playmates. He's been watching you since Willow made the trade with Warren's body. He tricked Anya into getting us into a place out of our dimension, but halfway into his. And now you are the key player in the game. Something's up, and I'm starting to believe it might be Mr. Happy."

"Wait. He did say something to me earlier, I was kind of hypnotized by the particularly vivid color of his eyes that I kind of didn't comprehend it when he said it. Shadow Men are all destructive and stuff, right? Julian said that from the moment he saw me he wanted me; not to kill, but to cherish."

Xander's eyes grew large. "You see, that is exactly what I'm saying. He has the hots for you. He wants to draw you in with his bright, blue eyes and make you into his little lap dog."

"And to think. Angel and Spike both left town, and a new demon wants to get with me. It's not fair. Why can't a decent guy ever 'have the hots for me?' I hate living on the Hellmouth. It is effecting everything!"

The clock that could be heard but not seen struck twelve. Buffy's eyes grew huge. "Oh God! The time limit."

Xander had a look of panic on his face. "There's a time limit? How much time do we have?"

"Um… until sunrise at 5:57." Buffy said. "Right. We can do this. I'll get the door."

Xander opened the door. They walked through the doorway and ended up in Xander's old basement. "Oh great. Like this nightmare hasn't been done before. All that's needed now is a crazy man with cheese and the spirit of the First Slayer ripping my heart out."

Buffy was looking at him out the corner of her eye. "You didn't draw that did you?"

Xander looked at her. "Huh? No. Why?"

Buffy crossed her arms. "Because, in various rooms of this house there are our drawn nightmares just waiting to attack us. Also the cheese guy was just insane."

"I didn't draw my basement. I drew a clown." Xander claimed.

"You overcame that nightmare last time we were forced to live out our worst nightmare remember. I became a vampire, and there was a cemetery hovering in the bushes of the high school." Buffy said, and then it dawned on her. "He knows."

"Who knows? What does he know?" Xander asked.

"Julian. He can read our nightmares some how and he is going to make sure we didn't make something up when we drew our nightmares. He wants us to know he's doing serious business in here. Plus, he gets moodier than a women going through menopause when ever someone doesn't take him serious."

"Oh. That sucks." Xander looked paranoid.

The door that Buffy and Xander walked through had vanished. But the door to the rest of Xander's house still stood, and so did the one going outside. They had walked through what is usually just a blank wall. As Buffy was realizing this, the door leading to outside flew off, and so did the one leading into the house. Coming inside from the outside was Willow ­ only she was wearing all black, her hair was jet black, and she was all veiny and scary looking. Her black eyes fixed on Xander and Buffy and she smiled.

Coming in the other door was Anya ­ or to be more accurate, Anyanka ­ All scabby looking and menacing in all her demon glory.

"Um, Xander?" Buffy asked.

Xander muttered what was probably meant to be a 'hmm,' but sounded more like a whimper.

Anyanka swept into the basement like the devil herself, fury dripping off of her. Willow strolled in casually.

Buffy looked at Xander, "You fight off Anya, and I'll get Willow."

Xander nodded in agreement, but couldn't actually speak.

Buffy ran past Anyanka and kicked evil Willow in the gut. Willow didn't even flinch. Instead Willow laughed. "You still think you are the great warrior, don't you. I promised you an ass kicking once, and now I think it is time I gave it to you." Willow's jet black eyes gleamed. Willow shot a ball of blue energy into Buffy's chest sending her flying across the room into a table with a heavy lamp on it.

Xander watched Buffy flying across the room, and Willow following the airborne body casually on foot. Xander turned back to Anyanka, who smiled menacingly. Her green pendant around her neck flashed in the light. "Pitiful man. You can't even marry the woman you claim to love because you are afraid of yourself. I should eviscerate you right here. I think I'm going to make your death as slow as possible."

Xander gulped, but then he remembered a weakness his Anya had. "Yeah, why don't you just go ahead and do that; just watch out for that rabbit right behind you."

Anyanka's eyes widened in terror. "A bunny! Where?"

As Anyanka turned to look Xander knocked her over the head with a nearby chair.

In the meantime, Buffy was busy fending off Willow. Buffy sent her a good punch in the face and for a minute thought she saw a hint of blue in Willow's eyes. "Xander, that is not the real Anya. Don't be fooled by the resemblance, kill her if you have to."

Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But what if it is my Anya and I kill her. I already caused her enough pain, and in spite of all of that I still love her, Buffy."

Willow turned and glared. "Oh great, another love speech. It might have defeated me last time but that won't happen again."

"No." Buffy said, "this will." Buffy stabbed Willow through the heart with part of the lamp she broke by falling on it earlier.

Willow's appearance turned back to how it should look: red hair, no ugly black veins. She looked at Buffy in a silent plea but then it was too late.

Xander saw this. "Buffy, you killed Willow!"

"No, I killed nightmare version of Willow. The real Willow is in England rehabilitating. The real Evil Willow would not have went down that easily. She didn't come into the game with us. And the real Anya is wondering around this house somewhere."

Anyanka laughed. "Fools! You think you can defeat me ­"

Xander yanked Anyanka's necklace off and smashed the green stone which was the center of her power.

Anyanka gasped. "No, not again. D'Hoffryn will be furious."

Buffy put her hands on her hips. "What will he do, make you human again so that you'll fall in love with another mortal man you were previously trying to curse?"

Anyanka glared. "I will return, and when I do you two will know the true meaning of pain and suffering."

Buffy muttered. "I had to stab Angel through the chest and send him to hell even though I loved him more than anything. That was pain and suffering enough. Then I had to lose my mother, and then I got ripped out of heaven. I think I've had my share, thank you."

The door Buffy and Xander had entered through had reappeared and they went through it and were back into the hallway. Only this time there were stairs at the end of it.

"Second level, anyone?" Xander asked, seeing them.


	11. Demon Magnet

The hallway on the second story was spookier than the one they had just left. There were less torches and the light seemed so important to Buffy right then. Just like before, the hallway stretched into one long corridor on both sides of them.

"Split up." Buffy said. "He won't hurt you; you've faced your nightmare. It will waste too much time if we go up and down this hallway together."

Xander reluctantly nodded and took the left side. Buffy went down the right side, trying out each door until one opened.

It was pitch black inside, but Buffy took a step inside anyway and fell about five feet. She muttered "great" as the door closed above her. But there was a faint glow coming from her right.

There seemed to be a corridor there. Soft orange light was coming toward her. Soon, she realized it was the fire from a torch ­ a torch being carried toward her by Julian.

"What's with the creepy torch and the dark room? You're not my worst nightmare, buddy."

"I can be. None of you actually drew your worst nightmare, well with the exception of your demon friend. If you haven't noticed, your subconscious betrays you here."

Buffy smiled. She was right, he can read thoughts somehow. "Why were you disguised as Willow?"

"That wasn't me. I'm not into cross-dressing, you might say. The blue glint in her eyes was a hint, and the last one you'll be getting at that. I can make anything happen; I was only being sporting since it was the first nightmare and all. I'm glad you caught on though. Some people don't."

"Um, right. And just why are we having this little meeting?"

Julian's smile was sinister in the glow of the torch. He placed the torch into a iron ring on one side of the room. Then he did something that Buffy had not expected. Julian traced what appeared to be one of those greater than or less than signs in the air and from that had another torch. He placed it into an iron ring across from the other.

"Is that supposed to impress me? Am I supposed to clap now?" Buffy asked.

"You really don't want me mad."

"Sorry, didn't know you were that touchy. What did you do?"

"In the Shadow World runes are our only source of magic. The rune I just used was Kenaz, which is the rune of fire and thus I created a torch."

"Oh right, those rune thingies." She knew she should have taken that book with her. Oops.

Julian was very close to her, but not touching. "Did you figure out my riddle?"

Buffy had forgotten to ask Xander about that. "What was it again?"

Julian began:

_I am mindless, yet demanding. _

_I am fragile although I am solid. _

_I am more precious than your mind. _

_I see through you although I am blind. _

Buffy thought about it. If she solved this riddle, Dawn could go home.

What is mindless and demanding? Spike. What is fragile but solid? A bone. What is more precious than my mind that can see through someone although it is blind? Love. No, not love, a heart. It is solid but can be broken, and unthinking but demands love.

Buffy smiled. "A heart. There, I solved the riddle, let Dawn go home."

Julian smiled back. "Sure you told me the answer, but I believe I asked for you to give me the answer."

"What? That's a little morbid ­ Oh. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I am done with the whole bad boy, who happens to be a demon, thing. Wait, 'Give me your heart?' That is so incredibly lame."

Julian touched her hand. His touch was soft and warm, but also cold and frightening. His fingers caressed her fingers and she felt her fingers intertwine with his although she didn't really want them to. His face was inches away from hers, and she wanted to kiss him. Every inch of her wanted to kiss him. So, why wasn't he kissing her?

His other hand went towards her hair, but didn't touch. "May I?" He asked gently.

Buffy nodded. She felt him loosening her hair which had grown since the summer. His hand went through her hair. If he didn't kiss her soon she was going to go insane. And then it occurred to her.

Buffy ripped herself out of his grasp. "You're tricking me."

Julian smirked. "Maybe just a little."

"You can't touch me unless I allow it. When I tried to hit you earlier, I meant to make contact that is why you could touch my hand. I allowed you to touch my hair, and you were trying to make _me_ kiss _you_. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I love you."

Buffy looked up at the ceiling. "Oh god, not again." She silently cursed Xander for figuring it out. "And what could have possibly made you realize this?" She said sarcastically.

Julian leaned up against the wall. When your friend, the witch, opened up the portal I saw you in the forest clearing and the light just radiated off of you."

"But you live in the Shadow World. Why would you care about light?"

"Because opposites attract. Light and shadows are opposites. Shadow Men are not supposed to fall in love, but I did. I am the youngest in an all male race. The elders always said I was foolish and a disappointment to them. While they sucked on the souls of their victims I merely avoided it. I was lonely. The last of my kind."

"Am I supposed to tear up? So you were lonely and you needed a chick. So why did it have to be me?" Buffy asked, arms crossed.

Julian's eyes flashed furiously. "Because you were a shining light in the middle of that dark night. There are other girls more beautiful, of course, but you are special. A beauty all of your own."

"Yeah well, light kills shadows and shadows kill light. And the comment about other girls being more beautiful than me really isn't earning you any points, so quit saying it."

Julian smirked. "Slayers kill vampires and vampires kill slayers. That never stopped you before. You've been with two vampires."

"One vampire. I only loved one. He had a soul. The other one did not have a soul. I used him. I was feeling depressed and he was my outlet."

"Some things change you know. The one who you say lacked a soul loved you as one with a soul loved you."

Buffy picked up mockery in Julian's tone and didn't like it. "What is that supposed to mean? It was lust. Soulless things do not love."

"It means that you think you know everything, when you really don't." Julian knew that Spike had gotten himself a soul and was hiding under the new Sunnydale High School which was almost done with repairs. Buffy wouldn't know this for quite some time.

Buffy laughed. "What about you. You think that you can make me love you? Spike, the other vampire tried to make me love him. It only drove me further away in the end and he left town."

"Oh, he left town just like Angel and Riley." Julian said.

"You don't have the right to know about them."

"I know everything. I've seen the people, and vampires, you cared about. I've watched them the way I've watched you for the past month or so. If you can love a vampire who's life is rooted in darkness because the light of the sun will reduce them into ash, you can love me."

"And aren't you rooted into darkness. What makes you so sure you can live in the sunlight."

"I'm not dead. I'm not a vampire. Sunlight just reveals my presence. In shadows I can be there and you'll never see me unless I want to be seen."

Buffy was getting bored. "And now what? You want me to just give up my life and settle down with you. You wanna have kids too, a little Jenny and Tom running around?"

"I do love the name Jenny. Tom, on the other hand, wretched name. You might want to rethink it." Julian said.

Buffy was outraged. "My God! All I want is a normal life with a normal boyfriend. I didn't ask to be a Vampire Slayer. I had finished my life and was happily dead and in Heaven. I get yanked out of there and now I am a demon magnet. My God, I'm the female version of Xander!"

Julian laughed. "Think what you want. You will be mine eventually, make no mistake about that."

The torches went out and Buffy was certain that he was gone. The door above her opened and Xander looked in.

"Buffy?"

"Right here."

Xander reached down and helped Buffy out.

"Did you face your nightmare?" Xander asked.

"No. Not really. Maybe." She hugged Xander. "This big spooky house is no fun. Let's win this game and go home."

Xander hugged her back.

"Yeah. Let's go."


	12. Cave In

After a little bit of walking they ran into Anya.

"Where have you been? I've been wandering up and down this hallway for hours. My feet hurt, and I can't teleport." Anya complained.

"Sorry Anya, we were busy with the nightmare facing and the demon talking to." Xander said.

"Ooh. You talked to the tricky, but sexy demon? What did he say?"

Buffy filled her in on how she was the key player and how Julian claims to be in love with her and all that great stuff. Anya listened intently before saying, "Oh, it's just not fair. You get all the hot demons: Angel, Spike, Dracula, and now Julian."

"Hey, I didn't mean to." Buffy said.

"And it's not only that. He tricked me into buying this stupid game and now I'm gonna be trapped here forever, and literally forever because I'm immortal. He took my money through seduction of the eyes and the lure of information. I should have known better since he's a demon and I'm a demon. Do you think that if you were to ­ let's say, die ­ he might be interested in me?" Anya smiled.

Buffy stared at her blankly before responding with, "Ok, so not the issue."

The clock struck one.

"Holy crap! Time moves too fast here, we aren't gonna be old and wrinkly like the people in the other Hell dimension you went to were, are we?" Xander said, panicked.

Anya answered. "No, time here only works about two or three hours faster; I'm not too sure on the exact length."

"Okay, so we are going to be like a day or two older when we get back? That really screws up the whole birthday issue, doesn't it?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, well it's your fault. If you didn't have to be all 'lit up' or whatever when we were trying to help Willow we wouldn't be in this mess." Anya said under her breath.

Xander took up for Buffy. "Yeah well, it isn't her fault. It isn't even really Willow's fault. If there is anyone to blame it is Warren. If Warren hadn't of tried to be super villainy in the first place and try to shoot Buffy, Tara wouldn't have caught that stray bullet and she would still be here and Willow wouldn't be in England undergoing heavy rehabilitation. So Anya, if you really want to blame anyone, blame Warren - or blame yourself for being tricked into making us play a game because the guy selling it had platinum-blonde hair, blue eyes, wore all black, and had the lean-well muscled body. That sounds like somebody else we know, who could it be? Spike, maybe."

Anya rolled her eyes. "Xander, you never take my side. Secondly, when I had sex with Spike it was because he was there, I was hurting, and I was really drunk - and believe it or not, he was going through the same thing I was, only I didn't completely lose it and try to rape you a few days later. But do you know what they say about Shadow Men?"

"What do they say?" Buffy asked.

"They are born, well not really born - made is a more appropriate term - into perfection. Of course perfection isn't good or evil, it is neutral, therefore when I say perfection it is probably a physical thing. They are heartbreakingly beautiful and physically perfect. No woman, or gay man, could possibly resist that hunk of masculine demon. Buffy, I don't know what is keeping you from succoming to him, but if he really is determined to get you, it will become more and more difficult to resist."

"Oh rub the perfection thing in my face, am I supposed to be jealous now?" Xander asked.

Buffy and Anya ignored this.

Buffy listened to Anya as they walked down the long, long hallway. She couldn't deny any of what was being said. It was harder to resist him everytime. Maybe if she wasn't so stubborn she would have already surrendered. He did try to make her kiss him. He could touch her hand and her hair, what would happen if he could kiss her or wrap his hands around her.

"Anya, is there any way to kill Shadow Men that you know of? You mentioned before that they were made but not born."

Anya smiled at the thought of being useful. "Well, Shadow Men use runes, remember. Runes are the rules, the laws, and the boundaries. Runes are used to keep them inside Niflheim, and runes are use to create Shadow Men. A Shadow Man is created when their name is carved into a magical rune stave: The Stave Of Life. If their name is carved out, the Shadow Man no longer exists. He will simply fade away into nothing. There is no heaven or hell to which the Shadow Men go to, they just cease to exist."

"Well, that's just crappy." Xander said. The two girls gave him a look. "What? If we carve this guy's name out of this stave, considering Julian lets us anywhere near it, then this guy risks everything for a girl and gets the ultimate shoot down."

"Oh, kind of like when Buffy stabbed Angel and sent him to hell, except for Julian can't come back like Angel did?" Anya said.

"You always did have a well-expanded, but scary mind." Xander said.

"Wait, Angel turned evil, tried to destroy the world, and I was doing my job. Julian tricked all of us, is playing dumb little mind games with us, and is living a complete illusion, literally. Besides, I loved Angel, I don't love Julian."

"Are you sure?" Xander asked. There was something odd about his tone.

Anya even had to glance at him, although she thought it was a fairly good question. "Yeah, do you know for sure that you feel absolutely nothing for this guy. I mean, you despised Spike, but you still snuck around boinking him left and right and led him on to the point that he lost it."

"Anya, please don't try to figure me out ever again." Buffy said flattly.

"Ooh. Stairs." Xander sounded excited.

Buffy looked ahead and saw them. "Dawn is probably right up there, scared to death."

"Or maybe she is just annoyed that it is taking us so long to find her." Xander said.

As the three came close upon the stairs the ceiling caved in.


	13. The Kiss

Anya dived to the right while Buffy shoved Xander to the left. She landed on top of him and their hips collided: lips met lips, noses smushed, and foreheads clopped together hard. Anya was on the other side of a pile of rubble, no where to be seen. Buffy was about to get up to check on her when Xander grabbed her arms and kissed her. Buffy pulled away, "Xander! What the hell are you doing?"

But Xander didn't answer, he kissed her again and rolled over on top of her. For some reason, Buffy couldn't force herself to shove him off. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was she doing; she was giving in to the kiss? She felt her fingers brushing through his hair - his hair which was suddenly longer than usual and silky and soft. Buffy's eyes flew open. Julian had tricked her again.

Buffy slung him off of her, and wiped her mouth disgusted. She gave in. She thought he was Xander and kissed him. She had wanted to kiss Xander.

No. Buffy knew that it wasn't Xander. She wanted to kiss Julian. She sensed a wrongness about Xander since he helped her out of that dark room. She sensed it but dismissed it as Xander because Xander was human, he had a soul. Julian was not, and therefore couldn't have soul... Could he? Vengeance demons had souls.

Julian laughed. It was sinister, but incredably sexy. "I told you I would have you."

"Yeah, but you had to trick me to gain access, where is the fairness in that?"

Julian traced a figure in the air which looked kind of like an angler vase on it's side. "Perthro. The rune of gamesmanship. I don't cheat, but I don't play fairly. I play as fair as life plays fair. I may withhold some information and disguise myself to my advantage, but I would never cheat. In fact, I'll offer you a negotiation."

Buffy was furious at him, but she wanted a way to save Dawn. "What? Give you my heart and my friends can go? I don't think so. Where is Xander anyway?"

"Xander found the right stairway on the other end of the hall. He is currently waiting in the turret for your arrival. But no, I'm not asking for your heart right now. What I want is a kiss."

"A kiss? Didn't you already get one?"

"No, Xander got one. Imagine how he'll feel to know that he has felt such strong feelings for you since you first met and when you finally give him a moments time, it wasn't really him. He still has feelings for you that are not just for a good friend, you know."

"So what. Why do you want me to kiss you?"

"I want you to kiss me, knowing for sure it is me. I want you to feel passionate about it; mean it."

"And what would make me so passionate all of a sudden?" Buffy asked, getting bored.

"Kiss me, and Dawn is free."

"Ok, this is a little sick if you think about it. You want me to think of my sister while kissing you passionately."

Julian stared blankly. "That wasn't what I really meant, but in a sense yeah."

"And she wouldn't be able to come back after us?"

Julian was stunned. He half figured she'd change the subject. "No. Like I said earlier, she could not regain access."

Buffy walked up to Julian, put one hand on the back of Julian's neck and pulled his head towards hers. She kissed him.

Okay, so you know how in fantasy stories there are those kisses that are described as time stopping and amazing in every single way? This was one of those kisses.

Buffy could feel chills, sparks, and tingles. The room seemed to glow with a soft radiance and there was nothing else but herself and Julian in the room. At the moment, the reasons why she was there was a blank. There was so much emotion in that kiss, like something was found that has been missing for a very long time - something important. Love. That was what had been missing. It was new and exciting, but frightening and unknowing. All this Buffy felt come from this kiss. She also felt the fear of losing this love, of being rejected and even of losing. Losing. The game, she had to win the game.

Buffy broke the kiss. Julian's eyes revealed a heartbreaking amount of longing. Buffy guessed that being an all male race meant love was forbidden, or that "love thy fellow man" had a literal meaning in the Shadow World.

"Dawn's home?" Buffy asked; she was still shaking from that kiss.

"She's home, just like I said." Julian said, sounding his usual cocky self. Buffy guessed he was trying to cover up his weakness. Love is everyone's biggest weakness.

Dawn's safe; that is all that matters.


	14. Meanwhile, In Midgard

Dawn awoke suddenly. She was walking down a hallway when things stared to feel shaky, then everything had gone black. Dawn realized she was back home. She looked at the clock, it was three in the morning. "Buffy?" She called out. "Did we beat him, did we win?" No answer. She looked at the paper doll house. Xander's doll was in the turret...with both the Creeper and the Lurker. Anya was on the second floor with Buffy. The room they were in had a piece of paper with a rabbit drawn on it.

"Bunnies. She would draw her actual fear. Not the wisest demon in the world." Dawn walked to the kitchen. The book of runes sat on the counter near where the phone was. First she would call Giles, then she would find a way back in. If she knew her sister, the only way Buffy could have gotten Dawn out was doing something she didn't want to make sure Dawn would be safe... which means Dawn wouldn't be able to get back in the game the same way as before.

* * *

Giles picked up the phone. "Hello?" Willow sat in a chair at a nearby table looking bummed. She had unleashed something on her friends, on Buffy, that she hadn't even realized she had done. She remembered killing Warren, and she remembered his burning and disappering in the flames, but no portals. She watched Giles hopeful that it was Buffy saying nothing has happened.

"Dawn? Where's Buffy? She's where? What game?" Giles went pale. "What ever you do, do not go back in there. Sit tight, Willow, the coven, and I are working on. We'll see if we can't pull them out."

Giles looked at Willow as he hung up. "We have a very serious problem."

"Should I inform the coven?" Willow asked.

"No need, we're going to meet with them now. Grab your coat."

Willow felt terrible. The coven was already afraid of her, and unleashing a Shadow Man in this dimension will only heighten their uneasiness.


	15. Bunnies

Buffy and Anya both had brooms and were swatting the leaping bunnies away. They stood on a table in one of the furnished rooms of the paper doll house back to back. Julian was leaning, half in shadow, in the corner enjoying the show.

One rabbit had bitten a hole right through Buffy's leather pant leg. Buffy gave up on being nice to the things ever since.

Anya, on the other hand was cowering in her purple knee length dress and little black heels. She had begun pleading with Julian. "Well, you know, Buffy is very stubborn, she would be hell to live with... I guess that doesn't clear anything up seeing that you are a hell spawn yourself. Have you ever considered dating Vengeance demons. You know, I can be all demon, or all woman. If not, I'll stay here with you and we can have lots and lots of sex! Many times a day and in many different positions. Just please, make these bunnies go away!"

Julian continued to grin. Buffy guessed it was because he liked the idea, or he found the look of pure disgust on Buffy's face humorous.

"Come on Julian, how do you solve the attack bunny nightmare, this is ridiculous?" Buffy asked him.

"That would be telling." Julian mocked.

"Give in now and they will all disappear." Anya glared at Buffy. "Oh come on. It can't be that bad. At least he isn't an ugly, slimy worm demon. He has human form, and come on look at him!"

"I've seen him, I'm trying not to. It makes it harder." Buffy pouted. Even though she tried not to think about it, and all her better judgment told her it was not real, she was beginning to like him. He was kind of likable in all his moodiness and evil kidnapping schemes, and Dawn was safe so she knew her worse nightmare, losing her last family member (that she actually still had contact with), would not include her real sister.


	16. A Point When Dawn Does Something Stupid

Dawn flipped through the book of runes. She came across a page titled 'Walking Between Worlds: How to Travel to Other Dimensions.' Dawn smiled. "Yatzee." She read on: "On a door draw two circles, one inside the other. In between the circles carve these runes starting from the top center and going clockwise: Dagaz, Thurisaz, Gebo, Isa, Kenaz, Raidho, and Uruz. Then stain the runes in blood. Then name the runes aloud in the order they were carved in. And they will guide you to the dimension you desire."

Dawn went to her basement door. "Xander can replace this. I might even live to see it, if Buffy doesn't kill me first." After gather things for carving and a heavy coat to face the frigid Ice Hell, she took a pencil and began to draw a blueprint of where to carve. The coven was researching ways to teleport beings through dimensions. Giles told them to involve runes, because he knew Niflheim was centered on runes.

* * *

Willow sat in the door way watching the rain fall. She just prayed that Dawnie wouldn't do anything stupid because she was told the coven would get Buffy, Xander, and Anya out of that game before 5:57 California time. But Willow wasn't so sure Dawnie would just stay put. Dawn had use a kitchen knife to cut herself two years earlier after finding out that she was a mystical Key to opening hell dimensions. She thought it was weird that none of the Shadow Men had gotten out when all the Hell dimensions opened. It took a sacrifice to exchange Julian for Warren. She was glad Buffy had not landed in Niflheim when she had jumped.

* * *

Dawn used the same knife to cut the palm of her hand. she quickly stained the runes with her blood, having to squeeze after about half of it was done to draw enough blood for the rest. Dawn wrapped an ace bandage around her wound and picked up the book. She read aloud the names of the runes, and watched them spin around in circles. Dawn watched in awe. Willow would have loved it. She missed Willow, and Tara. Warren desearved what ever torture these Shadow Men bestowed upon him. He was the scum of the Earth. The runic circle stopped spinning, the rune that was engraved on top was now more on the right. Dawn held her breath and turned the door handle.

The ice, snow, and wind came pouring into the house from where her basement used to be. She looked out and saw a frigid landscape. Glacier like mountains in the distance. There was no flat tundra, but a jagged ice earth as far as her eye could see. And in the middle of it all stood a house. Dawn knew what her distination was.


	17. Hell Breaks Loose Amongst Ice & Shadows

Julian was about to mock Buffy and Anya about the rabbits more when the doorbell rang. Having no clue what was about to happen he snapped his fingers and the rabbits all vanished. Buffy and Anya stared at him awkwardly. They were as stunned as he was. The door out of the room appeared, and julian went through it. Buffy and Anya followed. Xander was coming down the stairs and ran into them.

"Xander?" Anya asked. "Where you in the turret?"

"Yes, but it isn't like I could have gotten out, the snake and wolf thing from hell were blocking the door. I knew it wouldn't be that easy to get out. Did I hear a door bell?"

Julian looked back at him. "The Creeper and The Lurker were playing by the rules. Buffy had to be with you for you to get out the door."

He then went down to the second floor, and onto the first floor, to the front door. Before he could open it, they heard a girl's voice scream "Buffy!"

"Dawn!" Buffy cried out. "Julian, open the door! I thought she was in my house when you expelled her from the game, not outside the game in hell!"

"She was back in your house. She must have discovered a way into Niflheim, which means she mastered runes. Impressive." He opened the door.

Dawn was being pulled away by deformed dwarfs. At least that is what Buffy saw when they all ran out the house. Before she could burst into action, she was startled by the command in Julian's voice when he yelled after them. "Let the child go! Give me the child!" Buffy couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that he just practically quoted _Labyrinth_.

Dawn cried out "I'm not a child!"

The Elder Shadow Men turned and faced them. They looked like parts of ugly animals had been molded together and formed into little men. Julian's related to these guys? Yikes.

One Shadow Man, he looked part crocodile, said "The child entered our world of her own accord and is therefore ours.

"I'm not a child!"

"No." Julian said. "She was a player in a game I was playing. Therefore she is mine until the game is over."

The crocodile Shadow man laughed. "We'll see about that young one. You have brought the Slayer into our world, even though she does not have the resources to kill us, it was mighty thoughtless of you. If she can take the child back from us--"

"I'm not a child!"

"--And make it back to the house your game is taking place in, then you may have her. I highly doubt that she can do such a thing. Slayers are nothing but scary bedtime stories for vampires."

Anya whispered to Buffy, "See, they love gambles."

"Yeah well, you haven't met Faith." Buffy said to the Elders, ignoring Anya. "She's a living nightmare at times. I will take my sister back from you." Buffy took the nearest Shadow Man by surprise when she kicked it into the air. After that, it was difficult to make contact with them. The little suckers were fast. They tripped her up a couple of times, and one even pulled her hair out of spite. It cackled until she reached out and swatted it about ten feet from her.

Buffy looked and say Anya and Xander fending off the midget Shadow Men, and Julian taking Dawn from the hands of her captures. The advantages of being the only tall member of an entire race.

And before she could call out anything to him everything went black.


	18. Resolution

When Buffy woke up, she thought she was being hauled off to a Shadow  
Man prison for eternal frost torture. Julian was looking down at  
her. Dawn, Xander, and Anya were all starting to wake up as well.  
"What happened?" She asked Julian.

"Your Watcher and your witch did a spell to pull you out of the  
dimension. For some reason when I had a hold of Dawn I was pulled  
out to. Possibly because I have already gained access to this  
dimension."

"Tell me something." Buffy began, sitting up and looking at him  
face to face now. He was sitting on a side walk of some street  
unfamiliar to her. "Why were you the only Shadow Man who was not  
hideous?"

Julian actually laughed. The sound was beautiful, and still  
sinister. "I am the youngest of the race. That is how I could look  
after sucking on the souls of mortals and after centuries of evil,  
nasty deeds."

"So soul-sucking not good for the complexion?"

"Not so much."

"Buffy?" Dawn said, sounding worried. "Where are we?"

"It appears to be Eastman Avenue." Julian told her, pointing out  
the street sign. "I'm guessing they couldn't control where they  
brought you out at. Which means this is a good hot spot for in  
between dimensions."

Buffy glared at him. "I hope you aren't suggesting continuing the  
game because it is past sunrise and we are out of the game, fair and  
square."

Julian put his hands up in a defensive motion. "No, no, no. Of  
course not. You won the game. I said I would leave you alone if it  
happened. I just hope that if we ever cross paths again you will see  
me as an ally and not as an enemy."

"Julian. I don't ever want to cross paths with you again. No more  
Sunnydale for you. Go home. And a word of advice for picking up  
chicks, act human. Do what humans do."

"Slayer." Julian said sternly. "You aren't going to try to kill  
me?"

"Well I don't know how to get the carvy rune thingy of life to carve  
you out of, so no. Plus, I owe you one for saving my sister." She  
smiled gratefully. Xander and Anya were listening along with Dawn  
now. Everybody stood up on the side walk of this deserted street.

"Julian?" Buffy asked.

"Yes?" He looked pained, but yet like he had something up his sleeve.

"Do Shadow Men have souls?"

"That would be telling." He said with a wink and a bow, and he was  
gone.

The Scoobies all glanced at one another and turned to find either a  
pay phone or a bus stop. A building that was actually open and not  
closed down would be nice to.

"Hey Buffy." Xander said. "Where the hell are we?"


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Vista Grande, California**

**July 21, 2002**

Julian moved in the shadows of the deserted Eastman Avenue. He was furious that he had lost, but also intrigued by Buffy's sympathy for him. Strangely he didn't feel so sad after losing her, perhaps he wasn't really in love with her. His first taste of lust had been the Vampire Slayer herself. He saw up ahead a vision of gold. A sixteen year old girl with golden hair and skin and emerald green eyes was headed his way. She was distressed. His encounter with Buffy was forgotten completely.

By the fear coming off her in waves, Julian could read into the girl. Her name was Jennifer Thornton. She was looking for a game store to get something for her boyfriend's party. He saw what was scaring her before he read it from her. Two punks were following closely behind her. She needed a place to hide.

Also, she had a secret. A fear so strong that she could not recall what it was. Her grandfather had been a sorcerer. He tried to contain Shadow Men! She had opened the door that he kept them in, and he sacrificed himself to save her. This was when she was five. Julian remembered the old man. The Elders enjoy feasting on him. Julian had a brilliant plan.

Jenny wanted a game, so Julian would provide her with one. He felt as though he had been one of the Shadow Men who tried to take her, but he would never harm her, oh no. He felt as though he had watched her everyday from then on grow into the gorgoeus beauty she had become. Julian had to act fast if he wanted it to work.

On the corner of Eastman and Montevideo the stood an empty Tower Records. On the wall to the record store there was a mural of what Eastman Avenue had looked like before being deserted. In the middle of it, Julian made a door and behind it an in between place that Jenny would be safe in. He would keep her safe forever. Above the door a plain and ordinary sign now read "More Games."

Jenny came around the corner looking desperate for a place to hide. She did a double take when she notice the door in the mural. She outstretched her hand and took the knob. Looking at the sign above the door as she went inside.

What happened next is the beginning of a different story.

* * *

_So that's it, the end. Yay. I hope it wasn't too horrible :P Thank you for reading!_


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